BCCI and Mastercard will work together to combat the shadow economy

The President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov had a meeting with representatives of the technology company Mastercard.

During the meeting the research of EY on the level of the shadow economy in Bulgaria was discussed and opportunities for reducing it by promoting electronic payments. Expanding the number of companies and merchants that accept non-cash payments was identified as one of the possible methods to increase transparency of payments and reduce the level of shadow economy in Bulgaria.

The latest trends in consumer attitudes towards the preferred methods of payment were also discussed and the leading factors that affect them. Bulgarians more often choose electronic payment for smaller purchases and have positive attitude towards innovations in the sector such as contactless and mobile payment technologies. This is evident from the MasterIndex (2016) research and the Impact of Innovation Study (2016) conducted by Mastercard.

Representatives of BCCI and Mastercard will work together to promote digitalization. It was agreed to organize training seminars for SME representatives, during which Bulgarian merchants will get acquainted to the benefits of accepting electronic payments and how to choose a financial package that is fully consistent with their individual projects and specific requirements of each of them.